Image processing apparatus

ABSTRACT

An image processing apparatus comprises a memory configured to store a scanned image obtained by scanning a document placement area, and a processor configured to detect an image of each original document from the scanned image, specify a placement state of each original document, and generate data in a data format corresponding to the placement state of each original document in the image.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2017-148919, filed Aug. 1, 2017, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate generally to an image processingapparatus.

BACKGROUND

There is an image processing apparatus which scans a plurality oforiginal documents at once and extracts an image of each originaldocument from a scanned image. The technology is referred to asmulti-cropping processing. The image processing apparatus stores imagesof each extracted original document as a file according to data formatspecified by a user through an operation section or the like.

Conventionally, the user has to manually specify the data format.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image processing apparatus according toan embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system processing section and an imageprocessing section according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a setting table used in the embodiment;

FIGS. 4-7 are each a diagram illustrating an example of a data formatused in the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a document table used in the embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an operation in which the image processingapparatus according to the embodiment generates and stores the documenttable;

FIGS. 10-11 depict a flowchart of an operation in which the imageprocessing apparatus according to the embodiment stores a file; and

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the operation in which the image processingapparatus according to the embodiment stores a file.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with an embodiment, an image processing apparatuscomprises a memory configured to store a scanned image obtained byscanning a document placement area, and a processor configured to detectan image of each original document from the scanned image, specify aplacement state of each original document, and generate data in a dataformat corresponding to the placement state of each original document inthe image.

Hereinafter, an embodiment is described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

An image processing apparatus according to the embodiment executes amulti-cropping processing that includes scanning a plurality of originaldocuments at once and extracting an image of the original document. Theimage processing apparatus stores an image of each original document ina file in a predetermined data format after the multi-croppingprocessing is executed. For example, the image processing apparatusselects one data format from a plurality of data formats, such as a dataformat for storing each of the images in a separate file or a dataformat for storing the images in one file.

The image processing apparatus may output the file to a medium.

The image processing apparatus may print the file on a sheet. The imageprocessing apparatus may make a copy of the original document accordingto the data format.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image processing apparatus 1. As shownin FIG. 1, the image processing apparatus 1 includes the followinghardware components: a system processing section 10, an image processingsection 20, a storage section 30, a scanner 40, a printer 50, a controlpanel 60, an input and output device 70 and a device interface 80.

The system processing section 10 controls the image processing apparatus1. The system processing section 10 transmits and receives data to andfrom each section via a data bus line or the like. For example, thesystem processing section 10 controls the scanner 40 to acquire ascanned image obtained by scanning an original document set in thescanner 40. The system processing section 10 executes a multi-croppingprocessing based on the scanned image. The system processing section 10is described in detail later.

The image processing section 20 processes the scanned image acquiredthrough the scanner 40. The image processing section 20 sends thescanned image to the system processing section 10. The image processingsection 20 carries out a process of increasing an image quality of thescanned image. The image processing section 20 may transmit the scannedimage to the printer 50. The image processing section 20 is described indetail later.

The storage section 30 stores a document table under control of thesystem processing section 10. The document table is described later.

The storage section 30 is a nonvolatile memory in which data can bewritten and rewritten. The storage section 30 is for example, a HDD(Hard Disk Drive), a SSD (Solid State Drive), an EEPROM® or a flashmemory.

The storage section 30 may be included in the system processing section10 as a memory.

The scanner 40 scans an original document placement area (e.g., adocumentplaten) in which the original document can be placed. Thescanner 40 generates a scanned image. The scanner 40 includes a sensorhaving a plurality of reading pixels (for example, photoelectricconversion elements) in a main scanning direction. The scanner 40 movesthe sensor in a sub-scanning direction that is orthogonal to the mainscanning direction. The scanner 40 reads out the original document onthe document platen by moving the sensor in the sub-scanning direction.The scanner 40 may have illumination for illuminating the originaldocument. The scanner 40 sends the scanned image to the image processingsection 20 and the system processing section 10.

The scanner 40 may be provided with a sensor for sensing light from acarriage moving in the sub-scanning direction.

The printer 50 prints an image on a sheet based on a signal from thesystem processing section 10.

The printer 50 prints the image data on the sheet with, for example, aninkjet system or an electrophotographic system. The printer 50 mayinclude a sheet supply section that supplies the sheet on which an imageis printed, a sheet conveyance section that conveys the sheet, and aprinting section that prints an image on the sheet.

Various instructions are input to the control panel 60 by a user of theimage processing apparatus 1. The control panel 60 transmits a signalindicating the operation input by the user to the system processingsection 10. The control panel 60 includes, for example, a keyboard, anumeric keypad, a touch panel, and the like as an operation section.

The control panel 60 displays various information to the user of theimage processing apparatus 1. The control panel 60 displays a screenindicating various information based on the signal from the systemprocessing section 10. The control panel 60 includes, for example, aliquid crystal display as a display section.

The input and output device 70 is used for storing a file in which thedocument image of the original document extracted from the scanned imageis stored in the predetermined data format. For example, the input andoutput device 70 is a removable memory (e.g., a USB memory). The inputand output device 70 may support LAN connection. In this case, thesystem processing section 10 sends the file to an external device viathe LAN connection.

The input and output device 70 may provide a scanned image to the imageprocessing section 20.

The device interface 80 is used for transmitting and receiving data toand from the input and output device 70. The system processing section10 transmits and receives data to and from the input and output device70 through the device interface 80. For example, the device interface 80may support a USB connection.

Next, the system processing section 10 and the image processing section20 are described.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the system processing section 10 and theimage processing section 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the system processing section 10 includes aprocessor 11, a page memory 12, a document detection processing section13 and a NVM 14. The processor 11 is connected to each section via adata bus line or the like.

The processor 11 has a function of controlling the overall operation ofthe system processing section 10. The processor 11 may include aninternal memory and various interfaces. The processor 11 executesvarious processing by executing programs stored in advance in theinternal memory or the NVM 14.

A part of the various functions realized by the processor 11 executingthe program may be realized by a hardware circuit.

The page memory 12 stores the scanned image from the image processingsection 20. If the scanner 40 completes the scanning, the page memory 12stores the scanned image from the scanner 40. For example, the pagememory 12 stores the scanned image in a volatile manner.

The document detection processing section 13 detects the individualdocument image from the scanned image. The document detection processingsection 13 specifies an order, a position and a size of the documentimage from the scanned image. For example, the document detectionprocessing section 13 specifies an area of the original document byextracting edges from the scanned image. The document detectionprocessing section 13 specifies the order, the position and the size ofthe document area. The document detection processing section 13determines the order of each original document in the sub-scanningdirection. The document detection processing section 13 determines areading order of each original document. The document detectionprocessing section 13 specifies coordinates in the scanned image as theposition. Here, the main scanning direction is an X axis, and the subscanning direction is a Y axis. The document detection processingsection 13 identifies the X coordinate and the Y coordinate as theposition of the original document. The document detection processingsection 13 may specify a center of the original document as the positionof the original document or specify a predetermined vertex of theoriginal document as the position of the original document.

The document detection processing section 13 specifies a length in the Xaxis direction and a length in the Y axis direction as the size of theoriginal document.

If a plurality of the original documents is in the scanned image, thedocument detection processing section 13 specifies the position and thesize of each image.

The function of document detection processing section 13 may be realizedby execution of the program by the processor 11.

The NVM 14 is a nonvolatile memory in which data can be written andrewritten. The NVM 14 maybe for example, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a SSD(Solid State Drive), an EEPROM® or a flash memory. The NVM 14 storescontrol programs, applications, various data and the like according toan operation purpose of the system processing section 10.

The NVM 14 has a storage area 14 a for storing a setting table. Thesetting table is described in detail later.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image processing section 20 includes an inputprocessing section 21 and a high image quality processing section 22.The input processing section 21 and the high image quality processingsection 22 are connected to each section via a data bus line or thelike.

The input processing section 21 acquires a scanned image from thescanner 40. The input processing section 21 stores the scanned image inthe page memory 12. The input processing section 21 may execute aprocessing for correcting a gradation with respect to the scanned image.For example, the input processing section 21 executes a gradationcorrection by correcting relatively low density image data, e.g., nearwhite portions, to be of even lower density, e.g., entirely white oralmost entirely white. The input processing section 21 may acquire thescanned image from the input and output device 70.

The high image quality processing section 22 executes a processing ofincreasing the image quality of the document image extracted from thescanned image. For example, the high image quality processing section 22executes a filter processing, a variable magnification processing, adensity adjustment processing or a gradation processing on the documentimage.

The function of the high image quality processing section 22 may berealized by execution of the program by the processor 11.

Next, the setting table is described.

The setting table is a table in which the placement state of theoriginal document is associated with the data format of the documentimage. The setting table is used for setting the data format accordingto the placement state of the original document.

The placement state of the original document indicates the orientationof the original document based on a shape of the original document. Forexample, the placement state is the orientation in which the user placesthe original document on the scanner 40. Here, there are two types ofthe placement state of the original document; they are verticalplacement and horizontal placement. The vertical placement is a state inwhich a long side of the original document is placed along the mainscanning direction (X axis direction). The horizontal placement is astate in which the long side of the original document is placed alongthe sub-scanning direction (Y axis direction).

The data format indicates the data format of the document image. Thedata format is a structure of a file that stores the document image.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the setting table.

As shown in FIG. 3, the setting table stores the “placement state” andthe “data format” in an associated manner. Here, the setting tabledefines the data format according to the placement state of the twooriginal documents.

The “placement state” is defined for a “first sheet” and a “secondsheet”.

The “first sheet” indicates the placement state of the original documentpreceding in the sub-scanning direction. The “first sheet” indicates theplacement state of the original document read first.

The “second sheet” indicates the placement state of the originaldocument following the original document after the “first sheet” in thesub-scanning direction. The “second sheet” indicates the placement stateof the original document which is read second.

The setting table indicates whether the placement state of the “firstsheet” or the “second sheet” is “vertical” or “horizontal”. The“vertical” indicates the vertical placement. The “horizontal” indicatesthe horizontal placement.

Next, the “data format” is described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the “data format” is one of “store individually”,“store collectively”, “store collectively by changing order” and “storeby adding a margin”.

The “store individually” indicates a format in which each of thedocument images is stored as individual data. The “store individually”indicates that a file for storing the first original document and a filefor storing the second original are generated.

The “store collectively” indicates a format in which each document imageis set as one data. The “collectively store” indicates that a file, inwhich the first document is stored on the first page and the seconddocument is stored on the second page, is generated.

The “store collectively by changing order” indicates a format in whicheach document image is set as one data in a reverse order to the readingorder of the original document. The “store collectively by changingorder” indicates that a file, in which the second original document isstored on the first page and the first original document is stored onthe second page, is generated.

The “store collectively by adding margin” indicates a format in which ablank page is inserted between the document images. The “storecollectively by adding margin” indicates that a file, in which the firstoriginal document is stored on the first page, the blank is stored onthe second page, and the second original document is stored on the thirdpage, is generated.

The “data format” may be a data format such as 2 in 1 which combines thetwo document images on one page. The “data format” may be a data formatin which the document image is color data or monochrome data.

The “placement state” maybe the orientation of one original document orthree or more original documents.

Next, the relationship between the “placement state” and the “dataformat” is described.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a case in which the user vertically placesthe two original documents. FIG. 4(a) shows the “placement state” of theoriginal documents. FIG. 4(b) shows the “data format”. Here, the usersets the original document A and the original document B in the scanner40.

As shown in FIG. 4(a), both the original document A and the originaldocument B are vertically placed. Therefore, the “data format” is “storeindividually”.

As shown in FIG. 4(b), the processor 11 stores the original document Ain one file and stores the original document B in a different file.

FIG. 5 shows an example in the case in which the user horizontallyplaces the second original document B and places the first originaldocument A vertically. FIG. 5(a) shows the “placement state” of theoriginal documents. FIG. 5(b) shows the “data format”.

As shown in FIG. 5(a), the original document A is vertically placed. Theoriginal document B is horizontally placed. Therefore, the “data format”is “collectively store”.

As shown in FIG. 5(b), the processor 11 stores the original document Aand the original document B in the file. Here, the original document Ais larger than the original document B. In the example shown in FIG.5(b), a size of the page in the file is adjusted to match the originaldocument A. The original document B is located at the center of thesecond page.

FIG. 6 shows a case in which the user horizontally places the firstoriginal document A and vertically places the second original documentB. FIG. 6(a) shows the “placement state” of the original documents. FIG.6(b) shows the “data format”.

As shown in FIG. 6(a), the original document A is horizontally placed.The original document B is vertically placed. Therefore, the “dataformat” is “store by changing order”.

As shown in FIG. 6(b), the processor 11 stores the original document Aand the original document B in a file by changing the order. The firstpage of the file is the original document B, and the second page is theoriginal document A. The size of the page in the file matches theoriginal document A. The original document B is placed at the center ofthe first page.

FIG. 7 shows a case in which the user horizontally places the firstoriginal document A and the second original document B. FIG. 7(a) showsthe “placement state” of the original documents. FIG. 7(b) shows the“data format”. As shown in FIG. 7(a), the original document A and theoriginal document B are both horizontally placed. Therefore, the “dataformat” is “store collectively by adding margin”.

As shown in FIG. 7(b), the processor 11 adds a blank page therebetweenand stores the original document A and the original document B in thefile. The first page of the file is the original document A, the secondpage is the blank page, and the third page is the original document B.The size of the page in the file matches the original document A. Theoriginal document B is placed at the center of the third page.

The setting table is stored in the storage area 14 a in advance. Thesetting table may be stored in the storage area 14 a at the time ofmanufacturing the image processing apparatus 1. The setting table may beupdated as appropriate. For example, the setting table may be updatedaccording to an operation by the user.

Next, functions realized by the processor 11 are described. Thefollowing functions are realized by execution of the program stored inthe NVM 14 by the processor 11.

First, the processor 11 has a function of presenting the content of thesetting table to the user.

The processor 11 controls the control panel 60 to display the content ofthe setting table. For example, the processor 11 controls the controlpanel 60 to display an image indicating the placement state of theoriginal document and the data format corresponding to the placementstate in an associated manner. The processor 11 may receive an operationof updating the content of the setting table.

The processor 11 has a function of acquiring the scanned image obtainedby scanning the original document.

For example, the processor 11 receives an operation to start the scanthrough the control panel 60. Here, the user sets the original documenton the document platen of the scanner 40, and inputs an operation tostart the scan to the control panel 60.

Upon receiving the input of the operation, the processor 11 transmits asignal to start the scan to the scanner 40. The scanner 40 receives thesignal to perform the scan. The scanner 40 sends the scanned image tothe image processing section 20. The input processing section 21 of theimage processing section 20 stores the scanned image in the page memory12 after executing a predetermined processing on the scanned image.

The processor 11 has a function of acquiring the order, the position andthe size of each original document in the scanned image.

The processor 11 acquires the order, the position and the size of theoriginal document from the acquired scanned image using the documentdetection processing section 13. For example, the processor 11 transmitsa signal for specifying the order, the position and the size of eachoriginal document from the scanned image stored in the page memory 12 tothe document detection processing section 13. The processor 11 acquiresthe order, the position and the size of each original document from thedocument detection processing section 13.

The processor 11 generates the document table indicating the order, theposition and the size of each original document.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the document table. As shown in FIG. 8, thedocument table stores a “reading order” and “document information” inassociation with each other. The “document information” includes a“position” and a “size”.

The “reading order” indicates the order in which the scanner 40 readsthe original documents. The “reading order” is an order in which theoriginal documents are placed in the sub-scanning direction.

The “position” indicates a position where the original document isplaced. The “position” is defined by the X coordinate (dxn) and the Ycoordinate (dyn).

The “size” indicates the size of the original document. The “size” isdefined by a length (Xn) in the X axis direction and a length (Yn) inthe Y axis direction.

The processor 11 stores the generated document table in the storagesection 30.

The processor 11 also has a function of extracting the document imagefrom the scanned image.

The processor 11 acquires the document table. The processor 11 acquiresthe “position” and the “size” from the document table. The processor 11extracts the document image from the scanned image based on the“position” and the “size”.

The processor 11 may execute a processing of correcting a skew on thedocument image. The processor 11 may improve the image quality of thedocument image using the high image quality processing section 22.

The processor 11 also has a function of determining the placement stateof each original document based on the document table. The processor 11determines whether each original document is placed vertically orhorizontally.

The processor 11 acquires the document table from the storage section30. The processor 11 acquires the “size” from the document table. Theprocessor 11 determines the placement state of the original documentfrom Xn and Yn in the “size”.

If Xn>Yn, the processor 11 determines that the original document isplaced vertically. If Xn<Yn, the processor 11 determines that theoriginal document is placed horizontally.

The processor 11 also has a function of storing the document image inthe file with the data format corresponding to the placement state ofeach original document.

Here, the processor 11 selects the data format corresponding to theplacement state of the first original document and the placement stateof the second original document.

The processor 11 refers to the setting table to acquire the data formatscorresponding to the placement state of the first original document andthe placement state of the second original document. The processor 11generates the file of each document image according to the acquired dataformat.

The processor 11 controls the control panel 60 to display the filegenerated according to the determined data format. The processor 11stores the generated file according to the operation from the user.

For example, the processor 11 may store the file in the input and outputdevice 70. The processor 11 may cause the generated file to betransmitted to the external device.

If the image processing apparatus 1 copies the original document, theprocessor 11 stores the file in an internal memory such as the NVM 14.The processor 11 may control the printer 50 to print the file stored inthe internal memory. The printer 50 prints each document image accordingto the data format.

The processor 11 may store the third and subsequent original documentsaccording to the data formats corresponding to the placement state ofthe first original document and the placement state of the secondoriginal document.

The processor 11 may store the document image according to the dataformat corresponding to the placement state of the first originaldocument. The processor 11 may store the document image according to thedata format corresponding to the placement state of three or moreoriginal documents.

Next, an operation example of the image processing apparatus 1 isdescribed.

First, an operation example in which the image processing apparatus 1stores the document table is described. FIG. 9 is a flowchartillustrating an operation example in which the image processingapparatus 1 stores the document table.

First, the processor 11 of the image processing apparatus sets adocument extraction mode for executing the multi-cropping processing(ACT 11). For example, the processor 11 sets the document extractionmode based on an operation from the user or in a default state.

If the document extraction mode is set, the processor 11 controls thecontrol panel 60 to display a guide for presenting the content of thesetting table to the user (ACT 12). If the guide is displayed, theprocessor 11 controls the scanner 40 to scan the original document (ACT13). For example, if the processor 11 receives an operation to start thescan, the processor 11 proceeds to the processing in ACT 13.

If the original document is scanned, the processor 11 stores the scannedimage in the page memory 12 (ACT 14). If the scanned image is stored,the processor 11 executes a detection processing for detecting theoriginal document using the document detection processing section 13 togenerate the document information (ACT 15).

If the detection processing is executed, the processor 11 determineswhether or not the detection processing is executed on the entirescanned image (ACT 16). If it is determined that the detectionprocessing is not executed on the entire scanned image (No in ACT 16),the processor 11 returns to the processing in ACT 15.

If it is determined that the detection processing is executed on theentire scanned image (Yes in ACT 16), the processor 11 generates thedocument table based on the generated document information (ACT 17). Ifthe document table is generated, the processor 11 stores the generateddocument table in the storage section 30 (ACT 18). If the document tableis stored in the storage section 30, the processor 11 ends theoperation.

Next, an operation example in which the image processing apparatus 1stores the file is described.

FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are flowcharts illustrating an operation example inwhich the image processing apparatus 1 stores the file.

First, the processor 11 of the image processing apparatus 1 retrievesthe document table from the storage section 30 (ACT 21). If the documenttable is retrieved, the processor 11 extracts the document image fromthe scanned image based on the document table (ACT 22).

If the document image is extracted, the processor 11 corrects aninclination of the document image (ACT 23). If the inclination of thedocument image is corrected, the processor 11 improves the image qualityof the document image using the high image quality processing section 22(ACT 24).

If the image quality of the document image is improved, the processor 11determines whether or not there is a plurality of document images (ACT25). If it is determined that there is a plurality of document images(Yes in ACT 25), the processor 11 specifies the placement state of eachoriginal document (ACT 26).

If the placement state of each original document is specified, theprocessor 11 determines whether or not the first original document isplaced vertically and the second original document is placed vertically(ACT 27). If it is determined that the first original document is placedvertically and the second original document is placed vertically (Yes inACT 27), the processor 11 generates individual files from each documentimage according to the setting table (ACT 28).

If it is determined that the first original document is not placedvertically and the second original document is not placed vertically (Noin ACT 27), the processor 11 determines whether or not the firstoriginal document is placed vertically and the second original documentis placed horizontally (ACT 29). If it is determined that the firstoriginal document is placed vertically and the second original documentis placed horizontally (Yes in ACT 29), the processor 11 generates onefile from each document image according to the setting table (ACT 30).

If it is determined that the first original document is not placedvertically and the second original document is not placed horizontally(No in ACT 29), the processor 11 determines whether or not the firstoriginal document is placed horizontally and the second originaldocument is placed vertically (ACT 31). If it is determined that thefirst original document is placed horizontally and the second originaldocument is placed vertically (Yes in ACT 31), the processor 11generates one file by changing the order from the first document imageand the second document image according to the setting table (ACT 32).

If it is determined that the first original document is placedhorizontally and the second original document is placed vertically (Noin ACT 31), the processor 11 generates a file from the first documentimage and the second document image by adding the blank pagetherebetween (ACT 33).

If it is determined that the number of the document image is one (No inACT 25), the processor 11 generates a file from the document image (ACT34).

If an individual file is generated from each document image (ACT 28), ifone file is generated from each document image (ACT 30), if one file isgenerated by changing the order (ACT 32), if the file is generated byadding the blank page therebetween (ACT 33) or if the file is generatedfrom the document image (ACT 34), the processor 11 controls the controlpanel 60 to display the generated file (ACT 35).

If the output file is displayed on the control panel 60 (ACT 35), theprocessor 11 stores the file in the input and output device 70 (ACT 36).If the file is stored, the processor 11 ends the operation.

In the case of make a copy of the scanned original document, theprocessor 11 control the printer 50 to print the file. If the individualfile is generated from each document image, the processor 11 may controlthe printer 50 to print each original document on one side. Theprocessor 11 may control the printer 50 to print each original documenton a sheet that matches the largest size of the original document. Theprocessor 11 may control the printer 50 to perform the printing on asheet having a size suitable for each original document.

If one file is generated from each document image, if one file isgenerated by changing the order, or if the file is generated by addingthe blank page therebetween, the processor 11 may control the printer 50to print each original document on both sides. For example, theprocessor 11 may control the printer 50 to print each original documenton a sheet that matches the largest size of the original document.

The image processing apparatus described above specifies the placementstate of the original document placed in the scanner. The imageprocessing apparatus stores the document image in the file according tothe data format corresponding to the specified placement state. As aresult, the image processing apparatus can set the data format withoutreceiving the input of the data format from the user through theoperation section or the like. Thus, the image processing apparatus canefficiently set the data format.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments havebeen presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit thescope of the invention. Indeed, the novel embodiments described hereinmay be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, variousomissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodimentsdescribed herein may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended tocover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope andspirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image processing apparatus, comprising: amemory configured to store a scanned image obtained by scanning adocument placement area; and a processor configured to detect an imageof each original document from the scanned image, specify a placementstate of each original document, and generate data in a data formatcorresponding to the placement state of each original document in theimage.
 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe processor is configured to specify whether the original document isplaced vertically or horizontally as the placement state.
 3. The imageprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor isconfigured to determine as the data format corresponding to theplacement state of each original document in the image, either a formatin which each of the images of the original documents is set asindividual data or a format in which the images of the originaldocuments are set collectively as one data.
 4. The image processingapparatus according to claim 3, wherein the processor is configured tostore the individual data of the original documents in respectiveseparate files, and to store the one data of the original documents in asingle file.
 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1,further comprising: a scanner configured to generate the scanned image,wherein the processor is configured to store data in the data formatcorresponding to the placement state in a storage device.
 6. The imageprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a printerconfigured to print an image on a sheet based on the data in the dataformat corresponding to the placement state generated by the processor.7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theprocessor is configured to perform a processing to correct aninclination of the original documents extracted from the scanned image.8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein theprocessor is further configured to perform a processing to increase animage quality of the image of the original documents extracted from thescanned image.
 9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8,wherein the processing to increase the image quality includes at leastone of a filter processing, a variable magnification processing, adensity adjustment processing or a gradation processing on the documentimage.
 10. A method of processing a scanned image in image processingapparatus, comprising: storing a scanned image obtained by scanning adocument placement area; detecting an image of each original documentfrom the scanned image; specifying a placement state of each originaldocument; and generating data in a data format corresponding to theplacement state of each original document in the image.
 11. The methodaccording to claim 10, wherein said specifying the placement stateincludes specifying whether the original document is placed verticallyor horizontally.
 12. The method according to claim 10, furthercomprising: determining the data format corresponding to the placementstate of each original document in the image as either a format in whicheach of the images of the original documents is set as individual dataor a format in which the images of the original documents are setcollectively as one data.
 13. The method according to claim 12, furthercomprising: storing the individual data of the original documents inrespective separate files; and storing the one data of the originaldocuments in a single file.
 14. The method according to claim 10,further comprising: storing data in the data format corresponding to theplacement state in a storage device.
 15. The method according to claim10, further comprising: printing an image on a sheet based on the datain the data format corresponding to the placement state generated by theprocessor.
 16. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:performing a processing to correct an inclination of the originaldocuments extracted from the scanned image.
 17. The method according toclaim 16, further comprising: performing a processing to increase animage quality of the image of the original documents extracted from thescanned image.
 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein theprocessing to increase the image quality includes at least one of afilter processing, a variable magnification processing, a densityadjustment processing or a gradation processing on the document image.